I just want to say that I've read a bunch of old posts on hear and all the Firestik tech docs, but electrical stuff isn't my specialty so I've got a few questions on hooking up a cb. If you've got some time, bear with me.

I've got a Cobra 75WX ST. I've got a Shrocks front bumper on the way and I plan on mounting a 4' Firestik II FS antenna to it. TJ said a while back that there's a mounting hole on there, but others say there isn't. Anybody know for sure? For the cable I plan on using Firestik's K48R18 18 Foot Fire-Flex Coax w/ Fire-Ring & Stud. I'm goin to somehow run that to the back of the empty space under my radio (no amp) where the control box is going to be mounted. Hopefully there is something back there I can ground to. The main problem I have is that I'm not really sure how to hook up the power. I know I can run it to the fuse box but if someone can give me a little more detail on exactly what to do I'd appreciate it.

Can anybody think of anything else I'd need besides for tuning it? Thanks for any help.

Well, as far as for the power, my CB is powered through the cig lighter (spliced in, everything is done proper). No wires to see. Nice and clean. Fused by it's own fuse and through the cig lighter fuse, of course.

I have the same one all I did was take the fuse for the cig lighter out and wrap one of the post of the fuse once. Then stuff it back in there.

As for the ground all I did was find the steering column nut or bolt and put it underneath it and tighten it down. You may have to strip the wire more for this to get it to wrap it around.

You are going to need an SWR meter.

Alright, maybe my idea of hard wiring that sucker right into the cig outlet was not the best idea. Right now I'm starting to suspect that THIS is what's cousing the static that I hear with my CB now. I came to that conclusion after to a fellow club member who was having the same issue before.

ive got the firestik II mounted on my shrock bumper. i didnt see a hole in there for an antenna, so i drilled my own. anyways, here is where i mounted mine.





ive been told that mounting it on the passenger side is not the best for reception., but i also didnt want it in my direct sight either. it works on the trail most importantly, and i have had reception for alteast one mile away. good enough for me.

also, i hard wired into my cig lighter both positive and negative wires and have had no issues whatsoever. there are 2 fuses on mine that way. 1 that is in direct line from the cb to the cig. lighter, and then the one for the cig. lighter.

you can probably take your X to a truck station some where once its all installed and running and have them tune it for you.

See, this is what I was talking about in the last post. I was talking to Backpacker the other day and he had noise from his CB hardwired that way. So I'm gonna try other ways.

And another thing. What would the truckers do to tune it that I couldn't? Assuming I found out the right way how.

i dont think the truckers would do anything to your truck, that doesnt even make any sense.

assuming you have SWR METER to tune your antenna and actually know what your doing...nothing

and the part about tuning was meant to answer ripcurls question about tuning his antenna not you fixing your noise problem.

Yeah, I know you were talking to him, I'm just going along seeing if I can get rid of my issue while I'm at it.

2. I wasn't talking about doing anything to the truck

3. I was actually thinking about switching to a diff. antennae, thus the question. I just wasn't clear on that - typed too fast.

thanks for the replies guys. I'm probably going to end up drilling a hole through the bumper like manny did for the antenna and I'll pick up a cheap SWR meter from somewhere to tune it.

so for the power i can either splice into the cig lighter power cord or run the wire to a fuse and wrap it around one of the blades/posts? I was also thinking about trying to get power directly from the battery since i'm going to be going through the firewall for the antenna anyway. i couldn't find a whole lot of good info on doing that though.

First, don't use the fire ring. If you are mounting it to the front bumper, use a Firestick spring/stuf mount.

http://www.walcottcb.com/firestik-ss34ah-combo-heavy-duty-ss-spring-stud-mount-p-824.html

Use this Coax.

http://www.walcottcb.com/rg8x-coax-cable-18-foot-length-most-popular-p-729.html

Now, the problem you will run into with this installation is that the nylon washer that comes with the stud mount will not properly prevent the antenna from grounding out. You will want to get a piece of shrink wrap from Radio Shack that fits around the stud mount. Cut it about 1/2" long, slip it over the threads of the bottom part of the stud mount and heat it up. Then stick it up through the hole in the bumper, place the washer on top (with the lip sticking down) and then screw the spring on. You might want to put a few drops of blue lock-tite on the threads. Tighten up with a wrench. Then put your antenna on and snug it up with a wrench.

Run your coax, keeping it away from as many electrical components as possible. Hook up both ends. Then adjust the SWR. I suggest a small SWR meter that you can leave attached all the time. It's not a bad idea to check your SWR from time to time.

let me know where you pick it up from and how cheap it is, i would like to get one myself.

i can take pics for you of where i went thru the firewall and posts them up if you like.

That makes no sense, why wouldn't he use the FireRing? The FireRing attaches to a spring/stud mount just like any other connection (it just requires a longer stud in the bottom to thread into the stud mount) The FireRing is just the attachment point of the coax that attaches to the Firestik Spring and Stud Mount...I have one, so I know it works. The only difference between the FireRing and most conventional hook ups is that the FireRing actually surrounds the entire stud, and is bolt on, not screw on. The FireRing will always be stronger and always have better connectivity because of the way it is designed.

Have you used the FireRing connection before?

i dont think you need a 18 ft coax either. i used 9 ft and had to tie up about 2 1/2 ft of it. thats from the center of my console thru the firewall and to the bumper.

I agree on that one...and for the original poster, if you do end up with additional coax that you need to tie up..make sure you tie it in a loose "loop"...tying it up too tight or kinking it will cause your reception to diminish, and will ulitmately ruin the coax.

I have and don't like the design. I have seen way too many people have problems with them. I love FireStik's stuff, but I will stick to (and suggest) the standard in CB connections. Beside, if it should ever need fixed you can get studs and cables for the RGX8 standard just about any place.

You also want an 18' coax even if you don't need that much. Most antenna's are designed for 18' coax so it makes it much easier to keep your SWR down with 18 over 9. That doesn't mean 9 won't work, but you might have a hard time getting your SWR under 2.

From everything I've read 18' coax is what's best to use, but 18' would be a lot just running from behind the dash to the bumper. Do you know if there's enough room to stash the extra cable back there somewhere?

Manny ~ I'm at work now and I can't find the SWR site, but they had meters for around only $15 i think. I'll post a link when I get back home. If you could post a picture of where you went through the firewall it'd be helpful.

As far as getting power, here's my setup. Originally I had stuff spliced into cig. lighters, but once I got some offroad lights, I redid everything as it's much cleaner and easier to add stuff later on.

I ran pos/neg from the battery to a marine fuse block



and from there one of the circuits is used for inside stuff. I ran a set of wires inside the cab through one of the premade holes to a small distribution block. (found some sheet metal lying around, tapped holes for the block and drilled a hole for the big mounting bolt)



On the top, red sheath=pos, blue sheath=neg, so I have 3 power terminals to run stuff off of. Mounting location is just past the e-brake assembly.

As far as CB cable lengths go, 18 ft is most popular, but if it's way too long get something smaller. It's not that crucial. Just make sure the cable is designed for CB use at that length and it's not just an 18 footer cut up.

Just a few weeks ago I helped a guy install a CB in a first gen X. He mounted the antenna in one of the light holes in his Shrock bumper. We ran the antenna up behind the passanger head light and down the passanger fender. There is a rubber gromet in the firewall. I cut a small hole in it and fed the wire through (had to take the glove box out). We mounted the CB to he side of the center console on the passanger side. We used an 18' antenna and there wasn't much extra. I loosly looped it back and forth, wire tired it in the middle and stuffed it up under the dash behind the glove box.

The only thing that I did not like about this install is that the antenna runs right past the blower motor for the heater/AC.

He is getting perfect SWR and the motor doesn't seem to be causing any problems. I have not talked to him about it since that weekend, but I assume it's still working well.

I have the same 75WX ST as you, and I mounted the small power box under the middle console, and since the 03 has a 12v power slot in the middle console, I ran my wires up from underneath the console, and plug it into the outlet with an adapter.


Clean, and out of the way. I did have some annoying noise, but cured that with a noise filter.


My antenna is on the rear, so I am no help for a front antenna mount.

i've definitely gotten some good ideas. when i decide what i'm going to do and get it all hooked up once i get the bumper i'll post some pics.

here's a link to some cheap SWR meters
http://www.buyreliant.com/cbacc/swr_meters.htm

I use to install CB radios for a living ... back in 1976 when we were happy to have 23 channels! I'm a ham now but will break out the old dusty Cobra and K40 out of storage one of these days.

For your SWR make sure you check both ends of your radio - you want the SWR to be a bit high on each end and "perfect" 1.1:1 in the middle at channel 20 - right next door to channel 19 where even after 30 years the truckers still live.

For your noise ... if it's a crackly static it might just be normal. Adjust your squelch up until it cuts out the back ground noise. If it's a pop-pop-pop that only is present when the truck is running it's a bad spark plug or wire. Normally resistor plugs and wires fix that. If the noise is a whirling that goes up and down with the RPM's it's alternator noise which is either a bad ground or a bad filter on the alternator - they sell filters for this noise at the CB stores.

Also check your radio to see if it has ANR - Automatic Noise Reduction and turn that guy on. It will hurt your very distant listening but make all other listening cleaner.

73's

KG6xxx

Forgot to add ...

1. Flick the meter switch to forward.
2. Change the radio to channel 40.
3. Key up the mic and adjust the knob for 100% as marked on the meter.
4. Flick the meter switch to reflected (sometimes reverse).
5. Key up the mic and make a reading. You want as low a reading as possible.
6. Now do the same on channel 1.

If the reading was higher on channel 40 than channel 1 trim the antenna a tad (1/4" to 3/8th) and try again until you've cut enough that both ends are equal. Some come with an adjustable slider that you just loosen the set screw and lower.

If the reading is higher on channel 1 than channel 40 then you have to lenghten your antenna. Some come with an adjustable slider that you loosen the set screw and raise.

Go slow and get it done right.

I was reading through this post and got to wondering, where is everyone mounting their radios? I need to mount a small ham radio in my wife's X and I am looking for ideas. Adivce is greatly appreciated( pics are better)
Thanks

I have the Cobra 75WXST so it's mounted under the dash, below the steering wheel.

For a Ham, depending on the size, I would mount it to the passanger side of the center console or in the center console compartment.

Ditch the stock stereo and get a good DIN size front-firing speaker setup like the Uniden Pro538W or the Cobra 18




ETA: The Uniden has an RF gain knob and a PA switch - which is why I bought it over the Cobra - but it is a bit too deep for the space in the dash and I ended up having to mod the radio to run an antenna jack out the bottom of it - there just wasn't enough space in the back without cutting into the air ducts... so I'd recommend the Cobra for this application.

I have my CB mounted inder the dash, below the glove compartment. I mounted it that way because where I live I do not want my stuff to be visible at night (read: got my windows busted before) and I didn't wanna take it out each time, as it's a pain in the ass.

This way it's out of the way of passenger's legs and I can still reach it from the driver's side. Then again, I'm 6'7" and my arms are pretty long.

i'm going to mount the control box thing for my cobra 75wxst in the little cubby hole area behind the shifter under the radio.

back to my dillema from before - does anybody have pictures handy of where they went through the firewall with the antenna and other wires? i looked but couldn't find anything good.

sorry man, i goofed on that one. ill take and post them tomorow.

heres dem pictures.

firewall on the left side if your facing the truck, right under the hole where the hood goes in.


this is where it came out inside the truck



then i went down the inner fender towards the battery

right in front of the battery is where the headlights go in, i pushe back the cardboard like material and put the coax right thru there.





this is where it come out of the engine bay and under the bumper to where i drilled the whole.

on the inside this is where i ran the wires to the middle console.


from what i remember, i took a wire coat hanger, and pushed it thru the grommet in the fire wall. when it came out inside the truck, i taped the coax to the hanger, and pulled it thru the firewall.

hope that helps, if it doesnt let me know what pics you need to see, i will take them.

It's not that I need to remount my CB or anything at this point, but I'm curious... How did you secure the CB under the HU? Or, is it just sitting there, but tight enough not to just slide out by itself?

The brackets from the factory radio line up perfectly with the mounting hole in either side of the radio - so it just bolted right in! The thread pitch/size was even the same so I used the factory torx-head bolts.

It might be hard to tell from that photo - but the CB face sticks out about an inch farther than the face of the stereo - but that's no big deal.

i like that set-up (the din sized cb), if i ever decide to re-do my setup im definately going that route.

Excellent. Good to know.

Here are a few pics of how I mounted my Cobra 75

The unit is beneath the center console behind the shifter. A noise chopper filter is mounted in front of the shifter.

Here's what it looks like when I have the unit out.


Here's with it in.


A lot of the time when I'm using it I'll hang it from the mirror.


Power wires were fed through the big grommet behind the emergency brake on the driver's side firewall.


Engine side showing where the wires run. Wires for the lights are run through the same location.


Main power for the CB (and lights) are fed from a Marine fuse block mounted on the passenger side and tapped directly to the battery.


I may relocate the main CB unit to the back of the center console, though. I thought having it on the flat part was a good idea in the beginning, but since I spilled a drink on it, I've rethought my position. Also, moving it would keep the quick release part out of sight as well.

That's it. Hope this helps.

thanks for all the pics guys, they should help out.

it turns out my bumper won't be ready for about another month still so i've gotta wait on the install, but i just want to have everything planned out. i think i'm going to try using a marine fuse block too. seems like the best idea since i'll hopefully be adding lights down the road.

I know it's a few months later, but I figured I'd let everyone know I finally installed my CB last weekend. It ended up working out really well I think. I mounted the antenna to my shrock bumper and ran the cable up through the firewall. I installed a fuse block on the inner fender wall and ran power and ground wires to that. the control box is mounted to an aftermarket pocket under my HU. it just barely fit behind the hazard lights harness. i went to tune the antenna and it was a perfect 1.1 on every channel I checked. here's a few pics.




the rest of the pics are here
http://rides.webshots.com/album/555369117MpuAYF